KOLKATA: Only 93 million mobile users have 3G connections in India, which is home to a whopping 981 million subscribers, implying a low 3G penetration of 9%, said brokerage CLSA in a note.

Although “300 million (subscribers) use mobile data, only 93m of these have broadband (3G) connections,” said CLSA, citing latest data collated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

“3G penetration varies significantly across circles in India, with the top-five circles having twice as much 3G penetration as the remaining 17 markets, and also having 40% higher ARPU versus the industry average,” said the brokerage in a note to clients Thursday.

A case in point is that 3G penetration in Mumbai is a strong 21% , while in UP (East), it is as low as 4%.

So much so, India's top five data-centric markets - Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu - have an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 225, which is 40% higher than the industry average of Rs 161.

Market leader Bharti Airtel and No 2 carrier Vodafone India lead in these top-five data markets and have gained higher share here, the brokerage said.

“Bharti and Vodafone lead these markets with 58% revenue market share (RMS), which is higher than their overall market share of ~55%, the brokerage saidHowever, analysts at CLSA cautioned that since “high-ARPU subscribers are likely to be early adopters of 4G, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone could be impacted once newcomer Reliance Jio’s launches its awaited 4G services.

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After PSU banks, the government is likely to infuse capital in two chronically ill telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL, and the Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision on 4G spectrum allocation to them by the third week of the current month after DoT places the note before it for consideration.

At a high-level meeting at the PMO late Tuesday, it was also decided that the two telcos will frame a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to reduce their employee strength, which will be followed by a reduction in the retirement age to 58.